Western cyclone., 1887-05-12
LABOR AND CAPITAL.
FOUR THOUSAND HOD CAR
RIERS ON A STRIKE.
An Enthusiastic Meeting Held In Two
Languages-The Walters Strike
Miners Troubles.

CHICAGO, May 2-The Hod- Carriers
Union held an enthusiastic meeting Sunday
afternoon to take final action on their threat
ened strike. The hall, with its big gallery,
was packed with sweltering men, while the
sidewalks along the street on the outside
were jammed with laborers in Sunday attire
for distance of half a block The session
was orderly and we'll conducted. To accom-
modate the cosmopolitan character of the
assemblage two chairmen and two secretaries
were selected, one English and one German.
In the auditorium were at least 1000 union
lists, while the number on the outside did not
fall far short of that number. The
membership of the Hod- Carriers
Protective Union is claimed to be
$500. The first business transacted was
the appointment of a committee, with
instructions to retire to an ante-room and
receive reports from members as to which of
the bosses would accede to the payment of
25 cents an hour in the future This proved
a tedious task, and consumed the whole time
OF the session. Pending the committees
report the gathering was entertained with
speeches. 1t was proposed to assess all men
who were not forced to strike for their rights
81 week while the strikers were out of work.
lily tabled. The popular idea seemed to be that
it would be wiser and in better taste to defer
taking action of this kind for at least two
weeks after the strike is inaugurated. There
was general and apparently tacit under
standing that the strike should affect only
those of the men whose employers refused to
accede to the hod-carriers' terms. The union
has $4,000 cash in its treasury, and will
| q aTlIO1Onriatn oil nf n if tn fho
relief of the strikers and their families
At times the confusion of tongues in the
hall gave the appearance of excited disorder.
1t prompted Chairman Sharkey to mount
the table and command silence. ain the
name of the press" he said, "let us have OF
der. We have admitted the reporters of the
daily papers to our meeting. Don't make it
possible for them to say hard things about US
We are hOd-carriers to be sure, but let us
show the public, through the press, that we
know how to conduct ourselves like gentle
men. Let us give it out right here that we
are orderly citizens, asking our employers fol
rights that are justly ours. Let us put our
both feet down and say we are not Socialists;
not Anarchists. 1t is our business now to be
ortle-ly, and cody stand shoulder to shoulder
until we gain our point, even if it takes a
year."
This had the desired effect Silence was
the order throughout the rest of the meeting
German speakers were introduced and all
advocated the same policy. Fritz Prievey, a
German walking delegate, in a warm grafton
averred that wages were less in Chicago than
in st. Louis, Philadelphia, New York, Bos-
ton, or any other big city in the country
When the committee on reports from bosses
presented the result of its investigation it
was found that 102 contractors had expressed
their willingness to accede to the mems de-
mands. The total number of employers Of
hod-carriers is estimated at 235, which would
appear to leave the number of bosses holding
out against the labOrers 133. The number
of employees who refuse to accede to the
terms of the men includes the more wealthy
and extensive contractors The estimate
placed on the number of hod-c carriers who
will quit work to-day is 1000. In every case
the bosses who have given in so far are those
hiring six to ten men apiece. The hod-car-
riers, cole ctively and individually, express
confidence that they will come out success
fully, and that non-uniOnists cannot be hired
in their places to any great extent, in view
of the fact that the plasterers and some Of
the stone-masons will not receive "stuff" from
them. The bricklayers are not to counted
on to assist in the fight.